PALLAVI's GALAATA 2008 - a resounding success yet again

I can't believe its been 5 yrs already since we started doing the annual "GALAATA" show for Udavum KaragaL (a non-profit charity organization). Every year, PALLAVI has been setting newer bars, to outperform ourselves than the previous ones - each year we have something new to showcase - back in 2004, for our very first GALAATA show, we did some production (though minimal) and some glow-in-the-dark effects/dances, etc., I think this was also the year there were videos introduced.

Since then, there has been no looking back.

2006 GALAATA saw a grand-gala introduction song Dheem Thaana where we show-cased all singers on stage, each one getting a highlight piece. Another huge production song of that year was Mudhalvane with 2 dragons (ofcourse people wearing those dresses ;-)) dancing in the aisles and on stage.

In 2007, we did the kids song Anjali Anjali Anjali which was one of the best songs of the show with kids delivering that song with ease and perfection, the orchestration as impeccable as the original song. A couple of dance/prodn numbers, Jillinu Oru Kaadhal and Mayya Mayya received rave reviews. Also we put our harmony section to a test with so many songs having very intricate chorus/harmony pieces in them. The one to highlight was Aedho Mogam

In 2008, we raised the bar one more time - this time again with the kids singing Paattukku Paattu (from the movie Anjali) but making them sing harmony. We also wanted to do a novel way of introducing the group members (performers and production people) and we did it in style with a Pallavi Intro video - credit goes to Mohan for pulling this innovative, yet entertaining video from concept to screening in less than 2 weeks.

Uadvum KarangaL's GALAATA event has been sold out shows year after year, in a 1430+ capacity auditorium. That itself goes to prove this event has become an instant entertainer among all age groups.

Thanks to all patrons of PALLAVI and Udavum KarangaL for making this event a grand success. Looking forward to your continued support and patronage for years to come. It feel so nice to be involved in a show of this magnitude and also to know all these $$$ go towards a good cause.

Some URLs of interest:
PALLAVI music group: http://thepallavi.com
Udavum KarangaL (bay area): http://www.udavumkarangal-sfba.org

VK & Whistling

I have been whistling since I was a kid - who are my influences, you may ask - my elder brothers Rajan and Sridhar. They are such good whistlers in their own traits, its no wonder that I got that habit myself. I have gotten into trouble many a times with my father (late Mr S Venkatesan) for whistling (since he would not like the sound of whistling that much at that time). But somehow I used to continue to whistle and practice and here I am today posting my first capture of my whistling.

I have whistled entire songs in live music shows
- shankarabharanamu from the movie Shankarabharanam
- senthamizh Thaen MozhiyaaL from the movie maalayitta mangai
- manni indha kaadhal from the movie keLadi kaNmaNi.

Its just that some of these either have not been captured properly on videos before or have not been digitized to be uploadable. I just recently bought a camcorder and wanted to test-drive its recording/playback for which I recorded this short clip.

This was an attempt to whistle "mannil indha kaadhal" stanza without giving up even a second of a break in the notes themselves. Please visit my YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/vkpallavi to check it out. Your comments/suggestions are very much appreciated.

I am planning to embark on more such numbers in the future. So, do drop in occassionally to check out my new videos.

-VK

more notes/chords for songs added to KeylessOnline.com

Its been more than 5 months since I posted my first blog announcing the move to my new domain KeylessOnline.com. Since then, I've found some time here and there, to add keyboard notes/chords for many indian film songs (hindi, tamil, kids corner and some Misc songs). Needless to say, the response and the hits to this site has only increased by a very good percentage over these past 6 months. The support and patronage from visitors has been absolutely fantastic, based on the site statistics I have been seeing in recent weeks and months.

While this year 2006 has been very exciting for me (especially with the move to new domain and the new look and feel of the site), I am looking forward to 2007 to upload more songs (notes and chords) for the benefit of visitors (current and new).

Thanks for all your continued support. As I initially set out and said, these notes will continue to be available for free

Let the new year 2007 bring peace, prosperity, good health and wealth, fun and love and happiness to everyone in the world.

NOTE: As I've requested in my site as well, please donate liberally for tons of good causes that are out there, which are being carried out by volunteer driver non-profit organizations (like Sankara Eye Foundation, Udhavum KarangaL, CRY, ASHA, etc.,) Some of the links are also in my site to make it easy for you to know more about these organizations before you make that decision. Every single $$$ counts towards making a difference in some person's life in some part of the world. Let's all strive towards making the world a better place to live for everyone.

- VK

KeylessOnline - the new home of KEYLESS

The KEYLESS website has a new home in http://www.KeylessOnline.com. The keyboard notes for famous indian film songs (hindi, tamil, telugu, kannda, malayalam, etc.,) and non-filmi songs are available for FREE. Some of the songs also have chords provided for those savvy with the orchestration backbone. Feel free to browse thru this site and dont forget to sign the guestbook.
- VK (6/27/06)